Tag: Terribly Simple

Craving to make a crescent shaped shawl, I found Terribly Simple pattern by Caitlin French and started May 6, 2017. The pattern is terribly simple and I did get a crescent-shaped shawl, but not exactly a crescent on July 23, 2017.

I used Netwon’s Yarn Country Softball Cotton (Fiber Content: 100% Cotton; Yarn Color: Mikonos; Yarn Weight: 2, Sport). I noticed earlier some puckering of the fabric, thinking it was yarn related as the cotton seems pretty stiff. I think laundering will soften the cotton which came on a cone and probably has some manufacturing chemical on it that removed softness for process and winding. Finally, I hope that laundering might increase the hue of the color, which are too muted for my tastes.

The name of this project is a play on the irony of my unequal desire to make a crescent shawl and the ease of the pattern. However, I have looked at the other shawls made with this pattern and none of them have the hump at the neck. This is the second time I have made a shawl by pattern and ended up with the hump when none of the pattern pictures had one. What the heck?

Do-over 4: Cast on 24 stitches using a provision cast on, figuring I could Kitchener in the end.

Do-over 5: Cast on 25 stitches, doubling first knit row because yarn I am using is actually a slick ribbon and I thought it could be eaiser to just knit the end in from the beginning. Started in garter, but think I want something more different.

Do-over 6: Going to cast on 50 stitches for a wider project, and because I have two skeins.

After do-over 6, I finally found a simple crescent-shaped shawl pattern and set forth. The pattern was “terribly simple,” but I am not crazy about the hump at the beginning of my shawl. I will send a pic to the designer, inquiring why I got a hump, but I am already thinking that the different yarn weights may be the primary reason; because of the different yarn weight the edge is not as nice as I would like it to have been. Overall, I am loving the colors in this shawlette.

I named this shawl – Spirit In The Sky by Norman Greenbaum – after the name of the yarn (ribbon). Of course, I probably complicated knitting with this ribbon by cutting the knot connections and trying to make the shawl without knots. After the first skein, and because I hate sewing in knitting ends, I just left the knots. The ribbon portion (pale yellow) was horrendous for unraveling, requiring a knot at each cut end to prevent unraveling.

I think I am going to try and crochet a similar shawl using the same pattern; of course, converting the knit stitches to crochet stitches. However I might wait until I hear from the designer as to why my hump is so pronounced before beginning. Actually, looking at the flat picture, I think if I increased the number of edge stitches, it might push the curl up more…I think that’s the secret.